War Scenario. Part L

Previous Part


1155 Hours
4 November 2012
PPC International News

In a further body blow to Pakistan, senior most leader of Baloch Nationalist Liberation Front, Gaffar Khan has declared Balochistan as an independent country. Appearing in a televised press conference in Switzerland, he declared Pakistan as a dead entity and while proclaiming Balochistan province as an independent country. We are quoting parts of the statement that he read out to media,
“ Pakistan was never a real nation. Unlike other nations, it was based on nothing but an ideology of hatred and bigotry. We the proud Baloch people have been suffering under the unjust and unwanted rule of Pakistani military which comprises almost exclusively of Punjabis. Our voices have been brutally trampled upon and silenced for decades. Thousands of innocent Baloch civilians have died in excesses perpetrated by Pakistanis. My own son and his pregnant wife were tortured and killed by these barbarians. Pakistani military which fancies itself as champions of Islam by bombing and killing unarmed civilians, but no more. Today along with blessings of all of Balochi leaders we are going to end this unjust occupation of our land. From now on Balochistan is an independent sovereign country free of Paki tyranny. Governments of India and Afghanistan have already given recognition to our nation and I urge heads of all the other nations to follow their lead.”

There has been no reaction from Pakistan as yet as the country is without any semblance of governance after retaliatory Indian nuclear strikes. It's powerful military which called the shots earlier is broken and scattered, first after the infighting between two powerful Generals and Indian attack that followed. There has been absolutely no opposition to Indian advance in Pak occupied Kashmir either where locals have been largely supportive of Indian troops till now. We are still waiting for reactions from other nations to come in.






1400 Hours
4 November 2012
Taiwan News


Major cities in Chinese mainland were rocked by violence after rumours of death of Admiral Xedong leaked out. He was arrested on charges of masterminding a conspiracy to smuggle nuclear tipped ballistic missiles to Pakistan, one of which destroyed a small western Indian town killing more than 25000 people. India had then release audio recordings of Adm Xedong conversing with a Chinese intelligence officer in Pakistan, where he had ordered the launching of missiles. An investigation team organised by Chinese President Lin had arrested Xedong and whisked him away to an unknown location for interrogations. Absolute secrecy was maintained so as to prevent his co-conspirators from influencing the investigations.
But today as rumours of his death started appearing on internet, people started appearing in streets of his birth place Guanzhou carrying placards condemning President Lin. Within hours there were reports of protesters taking to streets in Nanjing, Wuhan and Gulyang. A small group of protesters in Beijing trying to march towards Tiananmen Square was forced to break up by Chinese riot police. Some of the protest marches got out of control as people started arson and pelted stones and Molotov cocktails at official buildings and police forcing authorities to enlist help of army in dealing with protesters. Internet access in most parts of China has been severely curtailed as almost all sites and forums not sanctioned by Chinese authorities have been blocked.
An official from the home security department, however claimed that Admiral Xedong is alive and well in protective custody. Terming the unrest as a result of malicious rumour mongering, he denied all reports of Xedong's death as an attempt to disrupt peace in China.

Taiwanese parliament has expressed serious concern over the situation in China as relations between the two neighbours are at an all time low following a shoot down of a Taiwanese fighter plane by a Chinese warship. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior law maker from the ruling party expressed concerns that China might use the excuse of spreading civil unrest and tensions with India to launch a surprise attack on Taiwan in an attempt to capture it. Echoing his sentiments, official spokesperson of Taiwanese government issued a warning to China cautioning it against further misadventure. Taiwanese defence forces are already on full battle alert to guard against any such attack. United States too has come in support of Taiwan and dispatched two carrier battle groups as an warning against any Chinese misadventure in the region. 

War Scenario. Part XLV

0350 Hours
PLA HQ
Beijing


“ What the hell do you mean by that ?” Chinese General Chan with 3 stars on his shoulders shouted in to the phone. “That base is one of our biggest in the region. How could something like that happen without us knowing ?”

His subordinate, a Brigadier under his direct command was on the other line. “I don't know sir. We just received a SOS from the base informing that some unidentified people had overrun their defences and killed or imprisoned all of the defenders. Even the Base Commander is missing.”

“ I don't care about who or how many are missing or dead, I just want to know who did this and punish him.” General Chan hissed with barely suppressed rage.

Brigadier waited for a few seconds as he contemplated his reply. News of numerous major setbacks, one after the other were playing havoc with their carefully planned strategy. What had started out as a win-win game had turned in to a nightmare turning worse with each passing moment. “All that I can say at this stage is that whoever did this was very well equipped and trained. Whole mission reeks of top class special operations team and a big one at that. The base with 300 people was overrun within a hour with no causalities on their side. We should be really careful with this.”

This statement gave a pause to the furious rants of General Chan. Although the attackers had overrun the whole base but still had not assumed full control. They had come in like a surprise typhoon, destroyed everything in their path and then vanished. There were almost a dozen Chinese bases in the region, all of them much smaller and much easier targets. The fact that the attackers had chosen to attack that particular base while ignoring all the low hanging fruit was most worrying aspect of the situation. No only they had good intelligence regarding layout and defences of the base, it's flawless execution also meant that they had prepared for it in advance. Not many countries had such kind of resources and skill at their disposal. Chan nervously chewed on his mustache as he considered all the points. “Are there any American or Russian assets in our seas ? Anybody or anything suspicious enough ?”

Relieved of the tension that had been gnawing on him during the pregnant pause , Brigadier replied immediately, “ No sir.”

Chan snorted derisively, “You should say that you haven't been able to detect anything yet. Somebody just destroyed our base in our own backyard and we had no clue hours after it happened. Something is really screwed up.”

Poor Brigadier had no idea how to answer that, “We are trying our best to catch the miscreants. “

“These are no ordinary miscreants Brigadier. You probably don't have any idea what you are dealing with. “ Shaking his head in mild irritation he asked, “ Tell me something that you know. How are you searching for the attackers and our missing men ?”

“We've pressed all of our remaining ships and aerial reconnaissance vehicles from Beihai and adjoining bases. But I believe we'll need more than that. If I may have your permission, can we call for reinforcements from Hangzhou ? ”

“Are you really that stupid Comrade Haw ? Do you really think that we can move our assets from that area with Japanese and Americans breathing down our necks ? Those ships and planes stay where they are.”

Brigadier objected weakly, “ But sir, it'll take us weeks to cover all that area with what we have it here.”

General Chang realised that the Brigadier was telling the truth Pausing again for a while, he took some deep breaths and asked“What's the location of our 3rd fleet ?”

“ They'll pass Malaysia in few hours.”

“Call them back and order them to help with hunting down the hostiles in Spartlys.”


Brigadier was startled. Searching frantically for polite enough words he mumbled, “ Sir ? But what about our plan regarding Indians ?” What will Admiral say to that ?”

Chan snapped back, “ You need not worry about them, Colonel. I'll talk with Admiral and even the President myself. We need to consolidate our resources not spread them thin. They are nearest and most capable with search and defending our remaining bases. I want them to form a impenetrable wall around west of Spartlys. “

“Yes sir.” Brigadier replied and then spoke with nervous voice again, “ “Sir. There is one more news that you need to know.”

“What is that Comrade ?”

“Vietnam has announced test launch of a ballistic missile tomorrow.”

General Chang almost jumped to the roof, “ Vietnamese have announced what ?”

Brigadier thought that he was beginning to enjoy the sound of panic in his senior officer's voice, “ They have announced that they'll test launch a short range ballistic missile tomorrow.”

“What the hell they think they are doing ? Testing a missile at this time when so much sh1t is flying around! When and how did they develop that missile ? It's impossible.”


Brigadier Haw agreed. “We'd have known if they were actually developing it themselves. This sudden announcement is very suspicious.”

Chan asked “Have Americans or anybody else issued a statement yet ?”

“ No sir. It's too soon for that. We'll hear something in a few hours, hopefully.”
Chang took in a deep breath and exhaled, “Let others take care of this missile business Comrade Haw. You need to concentrate on my orders. One more thing, news of this attack should not be leaked out anywhere “

Brigadier thought of letting hot shot General know what he actually thought of feasibility of the order, but wisely decided to keep quiet about that. He took his leave with a small reply, “ I understand sir. “





0350 Hours
Phalcon AWACS
Skies Over Laddakh

The AWACS had been in air almost continuously for a week now allowing for maintenance and refueling breaks. That particular patrol had been under progress for three and a half hours. A lot of things were going on Chinese side but till now they had shown no inclination of launching a full scale attack. That particular fact was needling Mission Controller more than anything else. Although, most of the Chinese bases had been put on highest alert after Indian attack on Chinese bases in PoK, Chinese so far had not started moblising their Air Force and Army assets near the border. The closest thing that could've caused a shooting incident was when a couple of J10s under control of a Chinese AWACS flying 100 Km inside Chinese territory had come within 2 KM of border. They could've been on an intelligence gathering mission to test and needle the Indian defences. They hadn't been completely unsuccessful in this. Commander of the local Akash battery had no choice but to switch on his radar and track the incoming bandits. The J10s had immediately turned on their tails and went back after powerful Rajendra radar started to track them both. No other plane had come in as close after that. Chinese AWACS was still there flying in an oval pattern, it's emissions clearly visible in the powerful tracking radar of Indian Phalcon which in turn would've been similarly visible to Chinese. Only thing that was different from peacetime were round the clock CAP missions on respective bases, offensive deployment of assets still hadn't happened .

MC glanced nervously at the blips denoting the 11 Chinese fighter aircraft flying in a pre-set pattern around their respective bases. 240 Km to his North-east he could detect tell tale emissions of powerful S-300 radar. It's signal going on and off as some big mountain formed an impenetrable wall as the Phalcon traveled or as Chinese switched it on and off.

War Scenario. Part XLII

Previous Part

1750 Hours
Indian Ocean


The deadly game of cat and mouse between Indian and Chinese submarines had been going on and on for hours. Nothing unusual about that. The crew had been in similar situation for much longer periods of time before. But currently, stakes were much higher. Not only their own lives, but lives of possible billions of people could be destroyed or changed unalterably by any mistake on their part. This was making them nervous. Captain of Indian Akula was aware of the fact and was doing every thing in his capacity to help his crew deal with the tension in his own stern way. The way was to keep every crew member so busy that he simply wouldn't have any time to be scared. The trick was working but even he knew that there was a limit to it. He prayed feverishly that the situation will be sorted much before the snapping point was reached.

Sitting in his chair, he was poring over the constant stream of data flowing over his console. The two Chineses submarines, one attack and another missile carrier had been advancing very slowly towards Indian coast. Former was drifting slowly east around 23000 m in front of Akula and the other around followed it a 1000 meters behind. Some of the major Indian coastal cities and A&N islands were already under the range of their missiles and they has not shown any inclination to launch their missiles. Indians could guess following two reasons for this behaviour,

1) They didn't had authorisation for launch
2) In case they had authorisation, they were trying to make sure that the area was clear of any Indian anti-submarine assets before launch.

Of the two possibilities, Chinese had already been beaten on the 2nd..
Although he had upper hand in the second, he still preferred that it'd rather be first. Chances were slim but a man always has hope, sometimes the greatest power, at others the greatest illusion. To make things worse he had no way to make sure until Chinese made a move. Silently, he cursed the Chinese one more time and wished them to make a move. Even hostile, so that the unbearable tension and suspense could break.
Probably a mischievous God listened to his prayer and granted his wish. Chinese made a move, but in a totally unexpected way. It happened when sound of a fairly loud sonar ping startled the hell out of every crew member on bridge.

Sonarman announced excitedly, “Sir, we are being pinged by a submarine at a distance of 21000 m from Bandit 3 and 4. “

“Is it one of ours ?”

“No sir. Based on it's acoustic signature, it doesn't sound like ours or even Chinese.”

Captain arched his eyebrows at the slightly nervous sonar operator, “Then ?”
Clearing his throat he replied, “It seems to be American.”

Akula's Commander exclaimed“ An American submarine ? Why will those idiots get involved here ? That too in this manner announcing their presence to everyone ? “


Captain reprimanded his junior officer at once, “We can discuss how and whys of American involvement later, if it's indeed an American submarine. Right now, concentrate on the task at hand. Designate the new contact as Delta 1. Give me an update on Bandits .”

“Bandit 4 is turning towards Delta 1. 4 showing no change. No indication of any hostile intentions yet.”

“ It's highly unlikely that our presence is a secret anymore from either.” Commander remarked ruefully.

Captain nodded gravely, "I agree. Turning to his weapons officer he asked, “ I presume that Delta 1 is still out of range of our torpedoes ?”

He replied with a nod, “Aye captain.”


Commander again exclaimed with surprise , “We aren't thinking of engaging the Americans at this stage..are we ?”

Captain grimaced inwardly at his 2nd-in command officer. “If push comes to shove, then maybe we'll have to. But right now, it's Chinese reaction that's more vital.”

He didn't have to wait long for the Chinese reaction. Before he had finished speaking, Bandit 4 had completed turning towards Delta 1's direction and started gaining speed.

“What the hell they think they are doing ?”

Weapon's officer spoke up tentatively, “ Chinese are within American's torpedo range while Americans are not. I think Bandit 4 is trying to get within firing range of Delta 1.”

No one else on bridge had any better idea. In spite of it's obvious craziness, that was the only thing that could explain Chinese action. Captain nodded and said simply,”We'll know soon enough.”

At that instant Delta 1 responded to the Chinese charge by letting out another ping. Within seconds, sonar man announced, “ Sir, Bandit 3 is turning in our direction and gaining speed. It's still out of our torpedo range though.”

Almost immediately another update came, “ It seems like Delta 1 has flooded it's torpedo tubes. I believe that they have a firing solution on both Bandits.”

Captain gripped the arm rests of his chair tightly, “ What's the status of Bandit 3 ?”

“It's still heading in the same direction constantly gaining speed. Current speed is 11 knots and increasing.”

A lot of thoughts were currently passing through Indian Captain's mind. What were Americans doing there ? If their intention was to sink the Chinese submarines, they could have probably done that much before Chinese knew what hit them. Even after Bandit 3 started it's charge, they possibly tried to warn it off by firing off a sonar ping rather than a torpedo. Could it be possible that they were on Indian side or were they just trying to break up the fight ? Announcing their presence by pinging in possible hostile waters had no logic. It had also made the Chinese aware of Akula's presence which they were not, as was the most likely scenario before. But considering the distance between them, it was highly unlikely that American's had been aware of Akula's presence either.
Shaking his head in frustration he again turned to his weapon's officer, “Be ready to fire on Bandit 3 on my order.” to which he replied eagerly, “Aye captain.”

Sonar man made another announcement, “I hear splashes. Bandit 4 has launched 2 torpedoes.” Without pausing, he spoke again, “Delta 1 has launched 2 torpedoes too.”

Captain muttered under his breath, “Just what the doctor ordered.”. Then to his weapon's officer, “ Is Bandit 3 in our range yet?”

“At current speed, in less than three minutes.”

Captain took a deep breath and ordered, “Fire tubes 1 & 2 at Bandit 3 as soon as it's in range.”

“Tubes 1 & 2 ready for Bandit 3, aye.”


In the meanwhile, Bandit 4 and Delta 1 were locked in a deadly duel. Although seemingly brave, Bandit 4 was less than a match for Delta 1. Americans were more than a generation ahead of Chinese in naval warfare. Their torpedoes not only had longer range and higher speed, but also much better terminal guidance. Therefore, even when Chinese had launched first, it was the American Mk48s, which found a terminal lock on their target first. Once they acquired the targets, their guiding wires were cut and Delta 4 immediately made a sharp turn and launched decoys. Chinese on the other hand were forced to cut wires and disengage a little earlier than required. Superior quality of American equipment was again obvious as neither of Chinese torpedoes could lock on to their target and were instead drawn away from Delta 1 by it's decoys. One of American torpedoes was neutralized in similar way, but the other found it's mark with deadly result for the Chinese. The torpedo tore through the hull of submarine and it sunk within minutes.

For Indians , although the technology gap was not as stark, it was comfortable enough for them to sink Bandit 3 without much trouble.

War Scenario. Part XLI

Previous Part

1420 Hours
PPN World News



In a stunning development a few minutes ago, Indian authorities blamed China for the nuclear attack on their soil that triggered a nuclear war with Pakistan. In a hurriedly convened press conference, a senior defence ministry official presented evidence to this effect that included pictures and videos of a captured Chinese nuclear submarine and it's crew off Pakistan's sea coast. Apart from the Chinese crew, Indians captured General Asgar and one of his aides who were apparently trying to escape from Pakistan in the same submarine. A recorded conversation between General Mao Hu, a PLA intelligence officer posted in Chinese controlled part of J&K and Admiral (Retd.) Xedong of CPC was also recovered, According to portions of conversation played in the press conference, Admiral Xedong ordered General Hu to launch the nuclear missiles. Apparently, the nuclear tipped missiles were smuggled in to Pakistan at General Asgar's behest as a bargaining chip against his bitter rival General Beg. But General Hu used them to launch a clandestine nuclear attack on India.
Chinese officials on the other hand refused to issue any statement on this matter. Their silence on this matter is quite suspicious considering the fact that Admiral Xedong is one of the more likely candidates for the coveted Chinese PM's post once the current PM steps down.
If these allegations by India are proven to be true, then China will find itself in a very isolated position.
Most of it's neighbours have already put their own armed forces at high alert preventing the Chinese from concentrating bulk of their forces against India. Russia has already condemned Chinese involvement with General Asgar and pit it's forces on high alert.
USA too, issued a strong warning and dispatched two of it's CBGs to the area after a Chinese warship shot down a Taiwanese fighter plane over Taiwan Strait. In a strongly worded statement, American president condemned the “irresponsible” attitude shown by Chinese military and warned them against any aggression against US allies and assets anywhere in the world. Japan too, has condemned the incident and put it's own forces on high alert.

As if external pressure was not enough, Chinese authorities are also battling suddenly resurgent separatist movements in Buddhist majority Tibet and muslim Xinjiang. According to news reports, both provinces are in serious turmoil after local rebels in both provinces launched bloody attacks against Chinese military and ethnic Han settlers. Although China has ordered evacuation of all foreigners from the two provinces and cut off all internet services since last night, reports of continuing violence are still pouring in through various sources.

War Scenario. Part XL

Previous Part

1200 Hours
Somewhere in India

The request for a telephonic meeting from the Chinese had come in just a few minutes earlier. If he was surprised by the event, defence minister Angad showed no indication of it. Now he waited surrounded by few of his advisers and military officers as the call was connected and voice of Chinese President Lin poured out of the phone's speaker. President Lin unlike most of his predecessors, spoke good English making the job of a translator completely unnecessary. After some very brief and tense greetings, the two men came directly to the point. First salvo was fired by Chinese, “Mr. DM, I've personally followed your career graph very closely and I know it for a fact that you are a pragmatic nationalist. You do realise the enormous cost that our countries will have to pay if the current situation deteriorates in to a full scale war. Then why have you attacked our assets without any provocation ?”

DM replied, “ Mr Lin, don't you think that a sneak unprovoked nuclear attack on my country that killed 50000 people in a matter of minutes is a grave enough provocation ? Nations have gone to war on much less. “

Lin protested incredulously, “But the attack was carried out by Pakistan ! You've already had your revenge. There is no excuse for you to pick up a fight with us.“

DM was silent for a while. “Yes you slimy lizard. Keep on shouting that you had nothing to do with it. Let's see how you explain what we are releasing to the world.” Outwardly he replied, “Well, for starters, how about we having concrete proof that it was your people who manufactured, transported and launched 2 nuclear tipped missiles at us.”

Lin cleared his throat uneasily, “I'll be honest with you. It's not exactly a secret where most of Pakistan's weapons come from. But what they do with them is entirely their prerogative. We can't be held responsible for what they do with it. We have absolutely no control over anything outside our territory.“

DM smirked as he sniffed his quarry walking in to a trap of his own making, “ I'm sorry to contradict you Mr. President, but Pakistanis don't seem to agree. Ah, why are we wasting time on verbal sparring when I have the proof straight from the horse's mouth. Would you please wait for a few seconds.” He put the phone on silent mode and signaled his aides to play the captured conversation between General Hu and the senior CPC member. Once the player was ready, he spoke again, “Sorry for keeping you waiting, but before talking further, I'd like you to listen to this recorded conversation.”

For next few minutes, Chinese President listened to the recording with absolute silence which extended for a few uncomfortable moments after it was over. DM took the cue and broke the silence himself. “I don't expect you to personally recognise the voice of General Hu, your senior most intelligence officer in Pakistan. But I'll be more than just surprised if you don't recognise the other voice. You hear him almost every working day of yours. Hundreds of millions of your Chinese citizens see his face on TV almost daily.”

When Chinese pres spoke again, the usual slight hint of arrogance was missing in his voice, “That could be a frame up by Pakis.”

Indian DM snorted bitterly, “A frame up by Pakistanis to get themselves annihilated ? This conversation leaves absolutely no doubt that your CPC and PLA planned and execute whole of this infernal operation. “

Chinese pres cut him angrily, “Xedong isn't the whole of CPC, Mr. DM. He is just a single member.”

DM retorted, “But that single man is the senior most member of CPC, ranking just marginally behind your nephew, who just happens to be your most likely successor for the post of Chinese president two years from now. Don't you honestly think that it's too much of a coincidence ?“

The reply was just the same, “I still believe that it's a conspiracy against us by a single isolated element. “

“ No Sir. The conspirators were Chinese and it's us who had to pay the price. I absolutely refuse to believe that anything of this scale can be planned and executed without implicit knowledge and approval of numerous senior CPC and PLA officials . We have more than just circumstantial evidence to back up our claims. We have testimony of the Chinese personnel captured from your submarine as well as Gilgit from Pak Occupied Kashmir. ” DM paused for a moment anticipating a reply from the Chinese but when none came, he continued, “You can't refute their testimony as well as the pictures of two nuclear tipped ICBMs that we captured from Gilgit.”

Indian DM's monologue was interrupted by excited voice of Chinese pres, “You captured what from Gilgit ?”

It was the turn of DM Angad to be surprised. “Is the smartass playing with me or what ?” Glancing at his aide, who looked more bemused than surprised he shrugged imperceptibly and said cautiously, “Two Chinese DF-21 ballistic missiles each armed with 100 KT Pluonium based warhead. Along with 11 technicians and 91 soldiers belonging to PLA's 811 Missile Brigade.”

Chinese Pres was furious instantly, “You've captured our missiles and men from Pakistan too ?”

DM replied in same tone, “All of J&K, including Gilgit and Aksai Chin is Indian territory. If you ever had any doubts or counter claims, clear them now. All of Pakistan occupied Kashmir is now under our control. You Chinese had no business bringing your men and missiles in Gilgit, even if it was under Pakistani control.”

Angad could hear Lin gnashing his teeth on the phone line in self-righteous anger, “But it was under Pakistani control Chinese couldn't have been there with their approval.”

Angad was beginning to enjoy the conversation, “Well, that still doesn't shed any light on why'd you send two nuclear missiles to Pakistan in violation of all international treaties and rules. Were they stolen by Pakis or what ? God forbid if these missile fall in hands of Uighurs or Tibetan nationalists. With so much chaos, anything is possible. Don't you agree ?”

Chinese pres was incredulous, “ Is it nuclear blackmail ?”

All traces of diplomatic civility vanished from the conversation, Angad replied with a hard edge in his voice, “ Think of it what you want Mr. President. We've already suffered a unprovoked nuclear attack. Pakistan was just your pawn. None of us will rest until we have our revenge.”

Chinese Pres almost shrieked, “But this is madness.”

“Nuclear deterrence is called MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) for this very reason. We'll take hits, but you'll not escape unscathed either.”

Lin changed his tone all of a sudden, “ Listen Mr Angad. I'm the President of China and all of this was done without my knowledge or approval. An unwanted war is not in any body's interest, except the conspirators who planned all this.”


Angad replied coldly, “You do realise that it's no time to play games Mr. President or act innocent. ”


Chinese pres protested weakly, “I'm not playing games. All this was done without my knowledge. I never planned or approved any such operation. “

People present in the Indian side exchanged confused glances. If Chinese president was indeed telling the truth, it was much stranger than the reality. DM Angad looked at the confused faces and answered, “I don't have anything except your word for it and I hope that you will understand my predicament. I can't just act based on your personal promises when lives of billions are at stake.”

Chinese Pres took a deep breath and replied, “I completely understand and I also want these tensions to end. None of us want a completely unnecessary war at this time. Economy of both of our nations will be set back by decades if this thing gets out of hand.”

Indian DM replied , “ There's more on stake than just economy.”

“True.” Lin conceded.”I'll do everything in my power to stop this madness. You've done whole world a great favour by showing me the real face of some of my compatriots. I'd like to return the favour by declaring a unilateral cease fire and cessation of all hostilities.”

DM was blunt in his reply, “I'd like to trust you on this Mr. President, but owing to events that transpired earlier, any such offer will be meaningless until we see some real result on ground as well as your government and military.”

Under different conditions, Chinese would have considered such response to be a major insult, but things were indeed different. “I understand it quite well. Still, I reiterate my statement. I hope a more lasting peace agreement will be reached between us as soon as I am finished with what I intend doing to Xedong and his associates. Goodbye.”

With this, the conversation between leaders of two warring nation came to an end. DM cut the call and looked at the small group present in the room. “Well. What should I make of it ?”

War Scenario. Part XXXII

0340 Hours
2 November 2010
6x Su30-MKI Flight
Skies over Gujarat sea coast




Mission Controller aboard IL-76 based AWACS took a look at the radar screen and picked up the mouth piece to contact Striker formation, “Striker team, this is Falcon 1. Guardian will join your formation over WayPoint 1 in 3 minutes.”

“Roger that Falcon 1.”Wing Commander Narendra, flight leader replied and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the approaching 3 plane formation of Su30-MKIs tasked with providing air cover to his Striker formation. Right on time the Guardian flight took defensive positions around the other 6 Su30-MKIs that formed the Strikers.
He strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the Air-to-Air missiles that the Guardians were carrying. In low light of the half moon, all he could see of the Guardians was flames of their engines. He wondered if they could see the much bigger payload his formation was carrying from that distance.

He took a deep breath as the Sukhois approached next waypoint. Voice of the MC came through radio once again, “Striker formation, increase your altitude to 8000m. Time for payback. Falcon 1 out.”

“Roger that Falcon 1”. WC Narendra replied and put his plane in to a steep climb. “Time for payback indeed.”








0345 Hours
2 November 2012
70 Km South East of Gilgit, POK



The two Chinese soldiers were standing guard over the unnamed mountain for two hours in to their shift. Their 2 comrades were asleep inside their cleverly camouflaged bunker. The two sentries were fully alert, backs erect and fingers on triggers as they stood guard . A HN-5 MANPADS, Chinese copy of Russian 9K32M Strela-2 lay in between them. Every 10 minutes, one of the sentries would put a small night-vision binocular to his eyes and scan his surroundings. Each time special attention was given to the railway line that passed through the foot-hills of their mountain and vanished in to a tunnel of another bigger one adjacent to theirs. The tunnel marked entrance of railway line in to the lush green valley just behind the massive mountain. Every 30 minutes, either one of them would pick up the small hand held radio placed on the ground and report the situation. Each time he received replies from 2 other watch positions placed similarly on adjacent mountain tops. This chore done, the soldier would walk back to his position and again start scanning the area below him.

Two dark figures lay as still as rocks behind them, watching and marking their every move. It was not the first time they were doing that. The 10 men team divided further in to smaller groups had been collecting intelligence for 2 weeks now. But tonight was different. They had been lying face down for an hour on the cold hard ground while a cold breeze chilled their backs. One of the figures whispered in to his small mouth piece, “Stalker alpha in position and ready. ” He received immediate replies from two other teams . He looked towards his team mate lying besides him and nodded. Then whispered softly, “It's a go.” Both men brought out silenced Tavors and took aim on heads of the two Chinese.
“On my mark, 3,2,1.” There were muffled popping noises as the two guns fired and slightly louder thumps as the two Chinese soldiers dropped unceremoniously to the ground. The two men broke cover and raced towards the bunker trying to be as quite as possible as possible. A small battery powered light illuminated the entrance. Their rifles drawn and eyes to the sights they tip-toed inside to find 2 Chinese fast asleep inside. Without pausing they put 2 shots in to each man's head.
This work done, both came out and contacted their mates on radio. The two remaining Chinese posts had been neutralized too. All that was left was report from 4th team which came in 3 minutes later , “Fireworks attached. “
“Acknowledged.”

Most difficult part of their mission complete, the men slightly relaxed and checked their watches. They still had 12 minutes till the delivery of airborne package. The man with Tavor took out one small gadget from his backpack and placed it on top of the bunker. It was just a small radio marker that could be used to identify the correct location. 2 of the other teams on other mountain tops did the same. In the meanwhile, his compatriot had placed a laser designator and started adjusting it's aim. His target was entrance of the tunnel. Other mouth of tunnel, the one facing the valley was marked similarly. 9 minutes still left and they waited.




Chapter 28

0347 Hours
2 November 2010
Phalcon AWACS
Skies near Pakistan's southern coast



Concrete intelligence regarding remaining 3 missiles had came in minutes after the meeting between GP, Angad and military representatives had ended. Two of the missiles had been detected at the Omara naval base. The base was approximately 230 Km west of Gwadar and had come up in the last 2 years with active but hushed Chinese assistance. 3rd one was further east on Chama, a small island less than 40 KM west of Karachi. The coordinates were hurriedly forwarded to the Air Force which had plans to neutralize any such target ready for years. Striker flight was the one chosen to destroy those missiles.


The six Sukhois engaged afterburners and put the planes in to a steep climb. The engines screaming and the airframe under quite a bit of stress, pilots waited till they reached 8000m and then leveled out. One by one they fired off their Air to Land version of Brahmos. The missiles dropped for a few meters then the booster kicked in propelling them to near Mach 3 speeds. Their work done, all Sukhois turned over and started racing back to their base. Personnel aboard the Phalcon watched as 6 blips started racing towards their targets, 2 missiles against each target .

“Missile launch ! We've just detected a missile launch from Chama island.” Excited voice of one of the radar operators broke the attention of technicians concentrating on six Brahmos flight.

MC rushed to the console and looked. “Damn it all to hell. They've launched that fuc***** missile ? Keep tracking it's trajectory. Send alerts to HQs immediately. Any idea where it's going ? Dilli ?”

“Looks like it's going south. If it's M11 then Mumbai is one prime target.” radar operator replied without taking his eyes off the console.

“What about missiles at Omara and how long till that satellite feed is available again?” MC asked getting more scared with every passing moment

“No sign of launch yet. Satellite will be in range in 60 seconds.”

“20 seconds to Brahmos impact.” radar operators tasked with tracking Brahmos flight announced.

MC bit his lips willing the Brahmos to destroy the Chinese missiles before they took off. His charm worked with the rest. The 4 Brahmos directed towards Omara base slammed in to their targets without any of the M11s launching. The ones directed towards Chama island destroyed the empty launcher killing only the personnel on ground. MC walked to his chair staring at the just launched M11 missile coordinates. “Assh*** launched it even before they knew we were coming. They were going to launch it no matter what !” He stared at the screen connected to satellite feed wishing the images via satellite could come sooner. He clutched his chair's arm rest tightly as the satellite link was established. Images at first blurry, then more focused and sharp started streaming in. He could see columns of smoke rising out of the Paki naval base, but couldn't confirm if the missiles were destroyed.
“Well ?” he inquired loudly.

“It's a kill. We've destroyed the remaining missiles.” was the reply.

“Only if we could destroy that bitch too. Shit !” he groaned.

War Scenario. Part XXIII

Previous Part

Lying in the bunker, he nodded off listening to sounds of gunfire and explosions outside. He didn't knew how much time had passed since he had passed out. All he knew in his confused and drugged mind was that something had changed. Lying on his back as Hariom had left him, he tried to ascertain what had happened. It was not the pain which was nothing more than a throbbing dull ache that started from his injured shoulder and spread like waves through his body. He tried moving his arm but it was still immobile. He tried to sit up but was overcome by giddiness and immediately dropped back. Cursing the Paki soldier that had shot him he lie still for a moment. Then it hit him.
Firing had stopped !
The loud bangs of grenade explosions and bullets was now replaced by and the sounds of distant men talking amongst themselves. He strained his ears to listen but was unable to hear anything intelligible. What had happened while he had passed out ?
Had Indians beaten off the Paki attack ? If so, why no body had come to check on the injured ? He looked around to take stock of his surroundings. Only source of any light was a battery powered light lying on a box in the distant corner. By it's light he could make up the shapes of other injured soldiers lying besides him. All of them had received painkiller shots and were either unconscious or sleeping. There was nobody else.

What if Pakis had over run the post ? A cold shiver ran through his spine at the thought. That was entirely possible they way they were attacking and would have done so within minutes unless Indian reinforcements arrived. Even without knowing the time, he knew that reinforcements promised by Col. Saha should've been there by the time he was shot. Were they too late coming to aid of their comrades ?

His panicked thoughts were interrupted by sounds of footsteps coming towards the bunker. He propped himself on his uninjured arm and strained his ears to listen. By the sounds, he realised there were 3 men walking on the path outside the bunker and would be inside in a minute. A cold sweat broke over him. What if these men were Paki soldiers intent on killing the wounded ? Or worse capturing and then torturing. Pakis are not exactly famous for humane treatment of prisoners of war. Capture was going to be much worse than death. He tried to raise the soldier lying closest to him, but he had suffered a head wound and a broken arm and was administered a generous morphine shot. He didn't move a bit even when Subhranjan kicked him. By this time, sound of footsteps was even closer.

Swearing under his breath, he abandoned the idea of trying to wake up any other soldier and started looking for a weapon. Using all of his will power he forced himself to get up and walked unsteadily towards the pile of boxes near the light. He still couldn't move his injured right arm and opened the lid with his other hand. Instead of any weapon, the box contained rock climbing gear. Cursing his luck again, he attempted to open other box when somebody turned the door handle. For a moment Subhranjan froze to the spot, remembering that he had forgotten to lock the door from inside. Now nothing could stop them from getting in. In desperation he lunged to the box he had opened previously and grabbed a small rock climbing hammer lying inside and turned off the light plunging the bunker in complete darkness. He felt the hammer in his hands. It was barely 11 inches in length and weighed a kilogram at most. Now the door was opened and Subhranjan stuck himself to the wall besides it as it opened. A streak of light entered the bunker through open door and 3 men entered inside one by one. His heart wildly beating he raised the puny hammer in his left hand and waited. One of the three men lit a torch and started walking towards the injured Indians while the others stood back. Subhranjan slowly walked out from behind the door, his left hand raised and sneaked up to the backs of two men, intending to knock them down with the hammer. There was no way in hell he could be able to take them all but it was much better to die fighting than being captured alive by Pakis. He reached within an arms length of the the two men and steeled himself to strike. Just then, voice of a puzzled Hariom startled him, "Where the hell is Lt. ? I left him right here !."

Waves of relief rolled down Subhranjan's body on hearing the medic's voice. He wanted to shout with joy, but could only manage a stifled croak, “Hariom ! Is that you? You frigging son of a bitch ! “

A startled Hariom moved the flashlight towards source of the voice and nearly screamed when he saw a wild faced Shubhranjan waving the hammer dangerously behind the other two soldiers. To his credit, he controlled himself and said in a comparatively calmer voice, “ Drop the hammer sir. It's us. We've beaten back the Pakis.”

Subhranjan dropped the hammer and promptly plumped down on his ass, “That I've managed to figure out myself.”

“Uh..then why this hammer sir” ? One of the soldiers that had come too close to getting his skull split at the hands of the Lt. Asked with some trepidation.

“Oh, that! I was just playing safe. Just in case.” Subhranjan managed this with a perfectly straight face. “Leave all this. Tell me what happened while I was here.”

“Reinforcements arrived within 5 minutes of me leaving you here. Subedar Major Salathia arrived just in nick of time with 20 men and kicked the hell out of enemy. We had to stop him from chasing fleeing Pakis down the mountain. You should've seen it from your own eyes. It was a sight to remember.” Hariom flashed one of his very rare grins.

“Where is he now ?”

“He is still outside, standing guard along with rest of men against a possible counter-attack. But I doubt it'll happen any time soon. Pakis have suffered too many causalities to mount another attack.”

“Did we lose any more of our men ?” Subhranjan asked with some disquiet.

“Thankfully no. Five more soldiers did suffer shrapnel and bullet wounds but none of them serious. Just the same, a Dhruv will arrive at dawn to evacuate the wounded and the dead. Additionally an UAV will be in air within 20 minutes. You can rest easy now.”

Subhranjan let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. Suddenly he started feeling too tired to even sit up and he lay down on his back thanking his stars.

War Scenario. Part XXII

Previous Part

A group of Paki soldiers escaped the notice of Indian defenders and snuck up through the middle face of the peak.Although one of the machine gun positions on the northern side saw them, they managed to scramble out of it's arc of fire without taking any causality. A 2 man team broke out from the group and started crawling towards the machine gun bunker from it's flank, intending to destroy it using grenades. Subhranjan saw one of them when he stood up and tried to throw a grenade. He at once shot the Paki who collapsed after getting hit by a 3 round burst. His companion however managed to throw a grenade towards Subhranjan before being shot himself. It landed just 2 feet from the trench where Subhranjan was and exploded before he could duck completely. Shrapnel from the grenade injured right side of his face and shoulder and the blast nearly deafened him. He collapsed on floor of the trench dazed, bleeding and and ears ringing. HariOm was on his side in an instant and started dressing his wounds.

“You have a nasty wound on your cheek. It'll need stitches.” He had to shout to make himself heard over the din of gunfire.

“That can wait.” Subhranjan managed to mumble but not without wincing in pain. “Where is my gun? “


Hariom was surprised, “Uh what? You are in no condition to fight. You need to get out of here.”

“Unfortunately these damned Pakis wouldn't let me. Will do anything you say once I see off these uninvited guests.”

He gingerly touched side of his face and winced with pain again when tried to lift his gun. Hariom looked on with concern, “Do you want a painkiller injection ?”

“Thanks, but I'll pass. Now go take care of other wounded.” Subhranjan replied as he tried to take stock of the situation again.

The Paki group that had manged to sneak in through the middle had taken cover behind a group of large rocks. One of the soldiers had an Under barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) on his AK-56 and was trying to fire on the machine gun bunker closest to him. Although the bunker had taken a direct hit, soldiers inside it had been unharmed. But their luck wouldn't hold on in case of another hit. Now, they were trying their best to keep that Paki from firing his UBGL again. Subhranjan realised what was going on and ordered one of his riflemen to move in closer to him. He saw the machine gun firing on the rocks behind which Pakis were hiding. After a few seconds machine gun had to stop firing for a magazine change. Pakis were waiting for just this kind break. As soon as the gun stopped firing, the Paki with UBGL popped out and tried to fire. But he had neglected to watch out for enemy outside the bunkers and paid the price with his life as soldier with Subhranjan shot his head off.

But their relief was short lived as another Paki soldier picked up that UBGL and managed to fire off one grenade on the bunker before being shot dead. Although the concrete bunker was too strong to be destroyed, it was damaged partially causing a blind spot in it's arc of fire. Surviving Paki soldiers took advantage and charged towards Indian positions on it's side that happened to be right where Subhranjan was. They charged towards the Indian trenches lobbing grenades and yelling loudly. This attracted attention of rest of the Indian riflemen who at once directed their fire towards the advancing group. In spite of the rain of bullets, two Paki soldiers managed to reach right up to the edge of trenches before being shot dead.

By this time another group of 9 Paki soldiers from the northern side had managed to avoid the bullets of Indian defenders and had take cover right where the earlier group had. Much to the surprise of Indians, this group too broke cover and started another charge at the Indian position. Even with the hail of bullets being fired on them, 3 of the charging Pakis survived and jumped in to the trench trying to engage the defenders in hand to hand fight inside. Two of them died without making any mark but one managed to fire off a burst from his AK-56 before being shot dead. One of the bullets hit Subhranjan in the right shoulder. He lost hold of the rifle and fell down writhing in pain. One Indian soldier immediately moved closer to him and put a bandage on his wound trying to stop the blood loss. Somebody had shouted for the medic and Hariom was there within moments. He took out a quick clot kit from his bag and poured the granular powder on the wound. Much to everybody's relief bleeding stopped within seconds and Hariom covered the wound with a bandage. Along with another soldier he started moving an almost unconscious Subhranjan to comparative safety of a bunker in the back.

As they gently set him down in the bunker along with other seriously wounded, Subhranjan regained consciousness and attempted to get up. Hariom stopped him and gently shook his head.
“What happened to you ? You're covered with blood !” Subhranjan exclaimed on seeing him.

“Well, it's not mine.” Hariom replied, trying to avoid looking him in the eyes.

“What ?”

“We lost 2 more men in last ten minutes. It's their blood.”

“Bloody hell! These mad Pakis will pay for this.” Subhranjan shouted with rage and tried to get up. But he stumbled and would have assuredly fallen on his face if Hariom had not caught him.

“ Do you want to kill yourself ? That bullet has shattered your collar bone and probably nicked a major artery. I've given you a painkiller, that's why you can't feel the pain. And after that shot, you're in no condition to fire a gun either.“ Hariom shouted sternly.

Feeling weak and delirious due to blood loss Subhranjan could do nothing but to let Hariom set him down. “But my men need me there” He whispered weakly.

“Sure they do, but they need you alive. You can go out to fight as soon as I feel you can. Till then, please lie down and try not to kill yourself. For your soldiers sake if not your own. Now, I have to go outside and see if anybody else needs my assistance. Don't move till I come back.” With this Hariom gathered up his medical kit and ran out of bunker towards the fighting line, leaving Subhranjan lying on his back with three other wounded men besides him.

War Scenario. Part XXI

Part XX

Subhranjan took the radio again and inquired about ammunition status. As he had guessed, there were only 2 mortar rounds left. He ordered all except one mortar crew to abandon their positions and take up defensive positions with rifles around the perimeter.

“What are we going to do sir ?” Joginder asked tentatively. He was impressed by the intelligence and bravery shown by the young, inexperienced Lt and his respect for him had grown manifold in the last hour.

“Well, we wait here as long it's needed.” Subhranjan replied scanning the slope in front of him.
“I wonder how long that'll be.” Joginder thought to himself but kept quiet.

As if guessing his question, Subhranjan added, “As soon as our reinforcements arrive or it becomes too dangerous for us to stay here.”


Lying prone on their stomachs, they waited for enemy to come again. By this time, artillery fire from Paki side had reduced considerably. Indian counter-artillery fire had crippled many of their guns and the surviving guns had to be moved around to prevent them from meeting the same fate. Still an odd shell continued to streak in, but without much accuracy.

Both men waiting on the slope prayed to be spared of a lucky strike. They were both lying almost in open with little to protect them if a shell landed anywhere near them. So far they had been lucky. They had been waiting for 20 minutes when Joginder thought that he saw some movement. He zoomed in as much as the sights allowed and sure enough there was a large formation of Paki soldiers moving towards their position. They had learnt from their mistakes and were spread over a large distance. He cursed them under his breath and handed over the night vision goggles to Subhranjan.
Although the enemy was out of range of Indian mortars, they could still be targeted by 155mm guns. He contacted Base 1 and asked for artillery fire. He knew he had to use up as much as support as possible before Paki soldiers came too close to be targeted by the big guns. Artillery crew took 2 minutes to adjust their targets and fired air-burst shells over coordinates provided by Subhranjan. Instead of taking cover or retreating, paki soldiers this time ran towards source of fire.
"I guess they know for sure that our big guns can't fire if they come closer." Joginder remarked .

"Yes. I hope that our artillery takes out most of them before they pass that point."

"Me too. Though fat chance of that happening"

Although they took some causalities, Paki soldiers sprinted fast enough to pass the kill zone with 5 minutes. Now defence of peak lay solely on shoulders of Indians manning the peak.

"What now sir ? Mortars ?" Joginder asked in a worried voice as he observed Pakis running up the slope from both faces. This time they were using cover much more effectively, dodging and sprinting between rocks and ledges making them a difficult target

"We don't have any other option left. I'll direct those last mortars on Pakis coming from east. Take positions towards towards left of this group and pick off as many of them as you can with your rifle. I'll do the same from here. Retreat to our post if they come too close or if they have a fix on your position."

“What about the other group on the north ?”

“I guess we'll have to deal with them later. Now hurry.”


Joginder nodded and crawled towards the place pointed out by Subhranjan. He took cover behind a group of rocks and waited. Subhranjan ordered his mortar crew to standby and be ready to fire on his mark. He too took up a firing position and waited till the Paki group came right where he wanted. When they reached there, he carefully took aim and fired. Although he missed hitting anyone, sound of the shot caused everyone in the group to duck and take cover. As soon as it happened he ordered his mortar crew to fire off last of their mortars which they did with deadly accuracy. Even with most of them hiding behind rocks and ledges, 2 high explosive mortar rounds killed 2 and injured another 3. Realising their folly, Pakis immediately got up and resumed their ascent again. Both Subharanjan and Joginder opened fire as soon as they got up causing much confusion in Paki ranks. At first no one realised where the fire was coming from and they started firing blindly but they soon got a fix on the position and started to return fire. But it was not before before they had lost another 3 men. At this time, Joginder noted another group of Paki soldiers moving coming towards their direction and he relayed the information to Subhranjan.


Both men stopped firing and started running back towards the relative safety of their post followed by Paki invaders almost snapping at their heels. They took cover inside a trench lined by sandbags and started updating rest of the defenders with whatever intelligence they had gathered about the attackers. Subhranjan ordered every man to take good cover and put his eyes on the gun sights. Nobody was to fire until the enemy was well within the range and devoid of any benefit of cover. Indian soldiers checked their weapons for one last time and braced for the attack.

Machine gun post on the east was first one to report a visual on approaching Pakis, but they were still too far to be targeted accurately. Just a minute later, another soldier who had taken cover besides the damaged bunker in north reported visual contact on his side. Pakistanis were trying to sneak up by hiding their approach with smoke grenades and were almost successful except for the fact that there were fair number of night vision devices with the defenders. Another proof of how close the enemy was came when one of the Paki soldiers fired a rifle grenade in general direction of the Indian post. The projectile fell well short of Indian position and exploded harmlessly. Although jittery and highly strung, Indian soldiers kept their nerve and held fire.

“Sneaky bas***** want a fix on our positions and arc of fire before committing to an attack. Pretty clever for a bunch of Pakis.” Joginder instructed rest of soldiers through the comm radio, “let them come closer. Hit them with all you've got when you can see their eyes. Don't Pakis bringing up the rear escape either.”

Another rifle grenade was fired which again failed to reach anywhere near the post. “Steady. Steady. Don't let these monkeys bother you like that.” he hissed again, waiting for Pakis to come closer. Fingers on triggers twitched nervously as the soldiers on both sides waited. Indian defenders had the advantage of higher positions and better cover while Pakistanis had numerical superiority. Both sides were trying to make the best of what they had and neither wanted to reveal it's cards too early. For Pakis, firing rifle grenades was a way to get a fix on Indian positions and once found then find a path to either bypass those positions or to neutralise them. But Indians had refused to oblige and now Pakistanis had no choice except an all out frontal attack.Causalities will be high but that was unavoidable anyway.


Indians defenders watched nervously as attackers rapidly started converging within their sights. Though owing to distance and low light they were nothing more than dark ghost like figures approaching silently. Within minutes they had moved in so close that their eyeballs would've been visible if there was light. Subhranjan decided it was time and he ordered his men to open fire. Within a moment the almost silent peak was covered with flashes and explosions of the gun fire. Pakistani soldiers in the lead had no chance to either duck or take cover and were cut down without even firing a single shot. Survivors immediately dropped to the ground and started firing back. Quite a lot of them who had neglected to take cover behind a rock or ledge were killed in the next volley. Even those defenders without night vision devices had no difficulty in getting a fix on position of the attackers due to their muzzle flashes and they were showing no mercy. They were firing on exposed attackers and lobbing grenades on those who had taken cover. But there were too many Pakis and too large an area for handful of defenders to cover.Even as the defenders concentrated on the east and northern ingress routes, a party of attackers started advancing through the middle.

War Scenario. Part XX

Previous Part

All of them were saddened by loss of 4 of their friends but the hammering they had handed out to Pakis had helped their emotions somewhat. He called medic Havildar Hariom and asked him to assemble a team to collect bodies of the dead. He inquired about the injured soldier and came to know that his condition was stable but required more expert medical attention. He at first considered sending him down carried by 2 or more of his men on a stretcher but then decided against it. Path was too dangerous and weather too bad. Additionally he needed every hand to defend the post against further Paki attacks. He set out on another tour of his post to rearrange his defences. He moved the mortar teams to more covered nests and away from each other in order to protect them against artillery fire. He positioned 4 of his riflemen near the machine gun bunkers on western side from where 1st wave of Paki infantry had tried to break in. His artillery crew was now idle due to lack of ammunition and he ordered them to dig up additional trenches and place sandbags to provide additional cover for riflemen and mortar crews.

His men were still placing the sandbags when shelling from Pakistani side started again sending the men scurrying for cover. This time firing was much more intense and shells were landing all over the place. All out of ammunition, Indian artillery men on peak could only watch helplessly as they saw their comrades huddled in trenches and bunkers.

Subhranjan immediately grabbed the radio handset and requested fire support. By this time, Indians had managed to setup the fire locating radar and were analysing the flight path of shells to plot the exact location of Paki guns. “ Three minutes for fire support. Stand by.” came the answer on radio.
“We don't have three minutes. Hurry up ! Hurry up!” Subhranjan thought with quiet desperation as one shell landed very close to one machine gun bunker on northern side, damaging one of it's walls, but thankfully nobody was injured.
It seemed like hours but finally he heard the rumble of Indian guns as they fired after tracing Paki gun positions. Indian soldiers on hearing it cheered loudly in spite of being under fire themselves. But much to their disappointment and puzzlement, this time Pakis didn't stop their shelling, neither did they change their target. Another of Paki shells this time landed close to another bunker on eastern side, collapsing part of it's walls and roof, injuring the two soldiers inside. Havildar Hariom at once jumped out of his cover and started administering first aid to the wounded soldiers. Two other soldiers came to help and carried their wounded comrades to comparative safety away from the damaged bunker.

By this time, Indian guns were starting to find their mark and Pakis were forced to halt their fire and move their guns after suffering a few causalities themselves. This earned a few minutes of respite for beleaguered defenders, but they could nothing except shaking their heads to stop the buzzing in their ears. Indian artillery guns too stopped firing as they had no way of locating new position of Paki guns untill they started firing again.

“What's going on down there with Pakis ? Any luck ?” Subhranjan asked one of the soldiers keeping watch against Paki infantry attacks. Tearing his eyes off the night vision device he shook his head, “Can't see any movement. I'm not sure that they'll dare to launch another attack again after the beating they got. Can't see far enough anyway “

“I wouldn't count on that. Keep looking and don't let your guard down.” Subhranjan said and went off to check on wounded.

He found them lying in the bunker on almost other side of the peak which usually served as storage. Havildar Hariom was still bandaging one of them when he entered. “They are out of danger but none of them is in condition to fire a gun. Although I've done the best I could, they'll need to be evacuated soon.”

Subhranjan nodded, “ I understand. Reinforcements are on their way. They'll be here soon and we can evacuate them then.”

“They better hurry sir. I don't know whether we'll be able to survive another attack.”

“Keep faith HariOm.” Subhranjan smiled grimly and went out to check his defences again.

Loss of one bunker each on north and west side had weakened his position considerably against a determined infantry assault. He ordered one INSAS LMG to be taken out of the damaged bunker and placed in the trench covered by sandbags just beside it. He placed two more riflemen around it to prevent flanking attacks. His artillery crew too had picked up INSAS assault rifles and were acting as riflemen now. Indians were just beginning to settle in their defensive positions when Pakis started shelling again, this time from a different position. Indian artillery crews were even more quick this time to start the countering fire. Right about than, Indian guards noticed some movement on both sides of the slope and alerted Subhranjan. He relayed the coordinates of suspected enemy movement Indian artillery crews and they in turn let loose a volley of air-burst shells. These shells burst in mid-air and pepper their target below with red hot shrapnel.


Subhranjan wanted to use as much artillery support as possible before the enemy came too close for Indian artillery to target. By then, they'd come in range of Indian mortars but there was not enough ammunition left. There was another positive sighting of enemy troops, this time on northern side. One of the guns again changed it's target and this time fired on northern side. Pakistanis by this time had started to fire smoke rounds from their mortars to hide themselves. Even though it was not a foolproof solution against thermal detectors, it still gave them enough breathing space to hide their exact location. Taking cover behind large rocks and ledges Paki infantry started inching towards Indian position for the second time in two hours.
Subhranjan watched the developing situation with increasing concern. His first priority was to stop Paki mortars from coming within firing range. Although Indians had the advantage of increased range due to altitude advantage, there were not enough of them. Indian 155mm didn't have a good firing solution on the mountain slope. To make conditions worse, the enemy was hiding behind rocks, smoke and fog. Visibility was getting worse with every minute and soon his men would be unable to see anything without NV.

In pure desperation, he picked up his rifle and a binocular with thermal sights and asked Lance Naik Joginder to accompany him with radio. Right in front of his amazed soldiers and in face of artillery shells pounding all around them, the two men got out of the bunker and started running towards the advancing enemy. Using whatever cover they could find, the two men started moving cautiously downwards. Keeping his eyes glued to the thermal sight Subhranjan was in lead while the other man followed him. They advanced 10-12 metres after which they stopped and scanned the area around them for enemy and again repeated the process. They had traveled this way for little less than a km when Subhranjan observed a platoon of enemy soldiers racing upwards almost at the foothills of the mountain. He grabbed hold of the radio and relayed the enemy's coordinates to his mortar crews. Within seconds they responded with a volley of rounds that killed most of the enemy soldiers who were caught in the open.

Alerted by the attack, another group of enemy soldiers broke their cover behind which they were hiding and turned back. Subhranjan observed them fleeing and was tempted to drop a couple of mortar rounds on them but wisely restrained himself. “There must be more enemy around I should save for.” I told himself. Changing his direction towards another likely enemy approach place, he started scanning the area again. He again found some enemy soldiers advancing, but this time dispersed over a much larger area. He again relayed the coordinates to his mortar crews. Resulting fire was not enough to wipe out whole group. A few survivors took cover behind rocks in comparative safety. Somehow they managed to setup a mortar and started firing back. But the weapon was too short-legged to reach Indian positions.

“Yes. Keep wasting ammo firing at the enemy you can't even see, let alone reach. Bloody moron.” Subhranjan muttered.

“Good for us. Heh.” Joginer chipped in.

Probably drawn by the sound of their own men firing, the fleeing Paki group had turned back and started towards the lone Paki mortar firing at the Indians. Subhranjan waited for them to reach closer and ordered his men to fire again. This time, all the survivors from 2nd part were wiped out as one Indian mortar round landed right on top of the Paki position. Another round landed very close to their comrades group running towards them. Contrary to common sense, they were running in close to each other and only 2 men survived unhurt. Both of which immediately turned on their heels and ran back again.

“I wonder what will their CO say to that.“ Subhranjan quipped.

“Award a Hila-Le-Bakistan, maybe ? Joginder replied. Subhranjan could see his teeth in dark even without the night vision goggles as he grinned from ear to ea

War Scenario - Part XIX

Part XVIII

He stumbled back into the command bunker where he had last discussed their strategy with now dead Major and Subedar. All of it felt unreal to the young Lt. who just realised that now he was the senior most officer on the post and was responsible for the well being of all the men under his command. His attention was taken up by the radio which was cackling with excited chatter. He recognised voice of Colonel Saha from the base camp calling on their call-sign, “Watchguard Alpha. This is Base 1. Do you copy ? “

He picked up the receiver and replied, “ Base 1, this is Watchguard Alpha. “

“Thank god, somebody replied. Who are you? Identify yourself. What was that explosion ? ”

“This is Lt Shubhranjan. One Paki artillery shell hit one of our M46s. We lost 4 men including Major Baljit and Sub. Sonam.” Shubhranjan heard himself reporting mechanically.

“Shit !” Voice on the other end replied. “What about the other gun ? Do you have enough ammunition ?”

“Other gun is operational but we are fast running out of it's ammunition. For heavy fire power, we only have some mortars left.”

“Damn it !. Listen Lt. Activate your UAV feed. We have just started receiving live video from one of our UAVs flying in your sector. It seems like Pakis are making an attempt to capture your position.We can see their infantry moving up on the slope from west. Do you have a visual on them ?”

“Negative sir. Visibility is less than 100 metres.”

Colonel replied in a worried voice, “That's bad. That bird won't stay up there longer than 30 minutes. Listen Lt., As you might've known it by now, Pakis have moved in a couple of their M198s. We are sending you reinforcements and ammunition right now. You just hang in there tight and don't let those bas**** come anywhere near your positions.
Use your mortars, machine guns anything to hold their advance. We'll provide you support against their heavy artillery from our 155mm guns.” and added almost as an afterthought, “as long as our stocks last.”

“Understood sir. I will not let Pakis take this post” Shubhranjan said with much more confidence than he actually felt.

“Good luck son. Over and out.”

The young Lt. Was left staring at the headset of the communication gear for a while before he was jarred back into reality by sound of yet another Paki artillery shell landing close by. He immediately picked up the short ranged field radio to contact the crew of remaining M46 and filled them in with the new developments. The artillery crew in turn replied that they had only 13 shells remaining.


Indian 155mm gun crews immediately started targeting Paki gun positions after the feed from UAV started coming in. Indian soldiers on top of Pt 6431 could hear the distant rumble as Indian gunners fired off their first salvo targeting their Pakistani counterparts. Effect of this counter- artillery fire was immediate. Some of the Paki guns were forced to change their positions, thus providing some respite to besieged defenders on Pt 6431. But they were not quite out of danger yet. Pakistani infantry was still advancing along the rolling slope of the mountain. Even in the bad weather, Heron operators could see the mortars they were carrying. It was only a matter of minutes before they reached close enough to fire them.
Subharanjan hailed crew of his remaining M46 on radio and ordered them to concentrate their fire on advancing Paki infantry. Indians knew the territory like backs of their hands and the effect of their firing made it quite obvious. Still smarting from the losses they had sustained earlier, they let loose a volley of high explosive shells that very nearly wiped out the whole advancing column of Paki infantry.

Subhranjan watched in quiet fascination as he sat in front of UAV feed console watching shells exploding in between Pakis. But the invaders were spread out over a large area and there were not enough heavy guns to cover them all. Even as one of the advancing parties was wiped out, another group started racing upwards. Now, it was turn of Indian mortar crews. AS soon as they were in range, all of them started their fire simultaneously. Although the effects were not as spectacular as 130mm shells, they were not less deadly for the attackers. A lot of them were blown to pieces even as they were running on the slopes. Survivors tried to take cover behind the rocks, but mortars were still finding their mark with deadly results.

Subhranjan allowed himself a slight smile as he watched Paki offensive break up and loose steam under sustained Indian artillery and mortar fire. Pakis had been unable to come close enough for their machine guns or mortars to be of any use. They were counting on their own heavy artillery to suppress the defenders. Banking on element of surprise, dense fog and fast deteriorating light they felt they had good chance of taking the post without suffering too many causalities. But early warning given by UAV and subsequent Indian artillery fire had broken the back of their offensive. With their forces severely depleted and scattered, they ordered retreat causing quite a few roars of joy and laughter from Indians. But Indians were not quite out of woods yet. Ammunition for mortars and sole 130mm gun was almost depleted and reinforcements were still more than 3 hours away.

Colonel Saha came on the radio, “ Nice work Watchguard Alpha ! Paki infantry is retreating, good job by your mortars. Our Bofors guns managed to break up their artillery formation but not as well as I'd have liked. Still, they'll be out of action for some time. How are you faring up there ?“

“No further causalities sir, but we are all out of ammo for our 130mm. Less than 12 mortar rounds left. We need supplies immediately.”

“A team with reinforcements and ammunition is on it's way Lt. You can expect them in 3 hours maximum. There'll be no UAV coverage for 3-4 hours at least, as the bird needs to be refueled and repaired. You'll have to hold on to your position till then. ”
Subharanjan could feel the unease in Colonel's voice even as he broke the bad news. Lack of UAV coverage in such low visibility conditions was going to be a big handicap for Indians. Without UAV, they had to rely on their night vision devices, which had a very limited range and utility in comparison.

“I understand sir. Just try keep their heavy artillery off our backs and we can manage the rest.”

“Good. One of our convoys just delivered a artillery position locating radar. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Hope it'll do the the job.”

“One good news at last.”Subhranjan thought to himself then heard the Colonel say, “Listen son, I know I'm asking a lot from you, but you have to hold your positions until reinforcements arrive. A lot depends on you tonight. God bless.”

It's going to take much more than just blessings if we want to defend the peak against another attack. Subharanjan thought to himself and went out again to check on his men.